We are democratic socialists. When the membership has voted on a statement of principles it will be posted on this page. Until then, consider the following points:
- Few are willing to work hard their entire lives only to be forgotten when they can no longer work, but it happens everyday.
- Few would choose to live in true poverty, but it exists in every country on the planet.
- Few people want to live without proper medical care, however, more than a few die every day of treatable ailments.
- Few want their children to learn in hostile or bad schools, but many children do.
- Few desire to live in fear because they worship God, yet persecution takes place even in 'free' countries like the United States.
These people--and many others like them--do not live in democracy. They are majority, but their voices are not heard, their needs are not met. By the labor of their bodies and minds, they provide for the world. They build the roads we drive on, grow the food we eat, design the houses we live in, invent the devices we communicate with. . .
When we give these people control over the product of their labor, we empower them to democracy. If these people cannot force their governments and corporations to fear them, those institutions will force them to live in fear. The prospect of socialism is a daunting one. It will take much work to achieve it in our homes, colleges, workplaces, communities, and ultimately, our country.
The United States is a country founded in a vision of personal freedom, the odd and revolutionary idea that people, collectively, are experts concerning their own lives, that they are intelligent enough to govern themselves. It is a country which took much work and sacrifice to found--but the work is not complete. Likely, it will never be finished, because freedom is not something that is gained once and then kept. It is something that is kept through constant struggle.
And why do we care?
. . . because we are these people.
